One Degree Contributor “Tessa Wegert”:http://www.onedegree.ca/contributors/tessa_wegert has a great Globe & Mail article called “On-line marketing concept gives consumers a say”:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051013/TWBRANDS13/TPTechnology/Email.
The piece covers the success of marketers and P&G and Kia as they use the Internet to get more consumer involvement in their brands:
bq.. “Consumers like to feel that their vote counts,” says Lisa Festa, a spokeswoman with Procter & Gamble in Toronto. So the company created an on-line “election” surrounding the Crest Whitening Expressions brand. North American Internet users were asked to vote for their favourite potential new flavour on-line, and Crest promised to make a product based on the winner.
Web promotion experts are pointing to Internet campaigns such as this as examples of “brand democratization,” a marketing concept that involves asking consumers for their opinion rather than dictating a message about a product or brand.
It’s about giving individuals “the power to be in control of the brand,” says Mitch Joel, a partner with the Montreal multimedia and marketing firm Twist Image.
p. Later on we find out a bit about how the campaign did:
bq.. “It’s very important to involve the consumers, since they drive our decisions,” says P&G’s Ms. Festa, who adds that the Crest campaign helped to position the Whitening Expressions brand and its multiple flavours top of mind among consumers.
She says Crest received more than 785,000 votes in its on-line election over the course of three months. “The Internet really helps make these kinds of interactive campaigns a reality.”
p. It’s amazing to think that they got almost *a million consumers* to vote for a toothpaste flavour!